How Google penalties have helped to improve SEO
To be a good SEO professional, you must have above-average marketing, technical and writing skills, as well as a penchant for public relations and an analytical mind. A collaborative approach is necessary since the profession extends its tentacles through various departments within an organization.
SEO should also be able to operate optimally in a continuously changing and ambiguous environment, because there is much uncertainty in SEO. Google has made itself the appointed jury, judge and hangman for all SEO tactics that are even just a little sneaky. It’s made much harder because Google has no one to answer to. The result is that they enjoy absolute say, which has been problematic for many a business owner trying to establish their online presence.
That’s not all, the SEO professional must confidently assure their client that the SEO campaign they intend to conduct will have positive and pleasing ROI, even when they can neither specifically offer a glimpse into the nature of those results nor provide a timeline within which said results will be noticed.
Given this high level of uncertainty, it’s easy to assume that SEO professionals would be the first to hate Google. Interestingly, this is as far from the truth as East is from the West.
Penguin and Panda have SEO approval
Before the Google search algorithm was updated for the first time, the field of SEO website optimization ran ablaze with lots of ifs and uncertainty. The rules were not clearly defined, and penalties were virtually non-existent, thus all things were permissible.
Enter the era of penalties in 2012, and suddenly everyone was on their toes because no one was exempt. In the time that has followed, there’ve been uncountable updates, so that SEOs have learnt to live with them, referring to them as a “necessary evil” intended for “the greater good” of the web world.
Because of these constant changes, a SEO must always be growing, which makes them better with experience. Google’s focus on diversification, quality and genuineness means that the SEO must actually work to see the results they want. Google challenges everyone to be better.
Sure, there are those who are not as crazy about the updates, but for the most part, this is due to the fact that while some sites struggle to keep to the good side of Google, there are those blatantly flouting the rules and getting high SERP rankings.
Clearer rules
Introduction of Google algorithm updates mapped out a scheme of operation in a world that was previously murky. That’s not all, it challenges SEOs to open their minds and think bigger – further than just building links and researching keywords. SEO cannot on its own be a marketing strategy; it’s just one among many lines of attack including digital display ads, content marketing, search ads, email and social media marketing, among others.
Because you need more than the highest number of links to get a good SERP ranking, you learn how to build a comprehensive campaign. You know what to do, you know what is expected, thanks to Google, and so the only remaining step is actually doing it.
